By Carla Bridglal
Story Created: Mar 19, 2014
After a long journey from South Africa to Port of Spain, the newest
roaring additions to the Emperor Valley Zoo were officially unveiled
yesterday.
One ginger and two white tigers and their travelling companions, one white and one tawny lioness, touched down at Piarco International Airport at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, after a long journey starting early Sunday morning in Pretoria, South Africa, with stops in London and St Lucia, before finally settling in their new home at the zoo, arriving around 8.30 p.m. “After months of permitting and getting all arrangements in place — it’s always challenging to transport animals — it does feel good to know they are here and are healthy and strong. This is a temporary enclosure; in about two to three months they will be transferred to their new home,” Zoological Society president Gupte Lutchmedial said.
The animals were accompanied by their breeder and handler Mike Bester, who hand-reared them on his zoo, Bester Bird and Animal Zoo Park in Pretoria, South Africa. Bester fed and watered them throughout the journey, sleeping nearby to ensure their comfort. The animals were calm and comfortable for the entire journey, he said.
Of course, spending that long in a box meant it took some coaxing to come out — at least for the lionesses, who needed some convincing to enter their enclosure.
After a few meaty bribes, the girls — whom Bester described as “timid” — emerged, only to scamper and hide in a dark corner of the enclosure. Timid or not, the beasts emitted some resonant roars.
The tigers were more outgoing, and bounded out of their boxes into their new homes. The white tigers, a potentially breeding pair who were raised together but are unrelated, were housed together, while the ginger moved in next door.
Bester said he was confident in the zoo’s ability to care for the creatures. “Otherwise I wouldn’t let them come. I know (Lutchmedial) very well. Tigers and lions are pretty easy to take care of and do well in captivity. I’ve seen the plans for the new facilities they will soon be moving into and they will be world class,” he said.
Bester said tigers are naturally solitary in the wild — and that instinct reared when the white tigers, who had recently been nuzzling, started to snap at each other before tacitly working out a cage division.
Nevertheless, Bester said if all goes well, tiger cubs can be expected as soon as a year from now.
If the lionesses take to their three lion kings, housed two enclosures away, lion cubs can be expected in about three years, he added. “Whatever animals we bring, we try to get good quality bloodlines and whatever young we get will be good quality bloodlines (to supply other zoos in the region),” Lutchmedial said.
The tigers are expected to reach a maximum weight of about 350 kilogrammes; they are currently about two-thirds that size. the lions are about one-third their maximum 250 kilos.
They don’t have a name yet, but Lutchmedial said the zoo will hold a public naming competition for 45 days. Patrons can fill out naming forms at the zoo, or submit suggestions via e-mail at zs.tt@hotmail.com.
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